Here’s a real oddity of our modern digital times: Square Enix has released a free app on PlayStation 4 in Japan that includes a live performance of the Piano Collections – Final Fantasy XV: Moonlit Melodies album, but it’s only fully functional for PlayStation Plus subscribers, and it will disappear after March 1st, 2018.
This is much more elaborate than the other soundtrack apps that have been released on the PlayStation Store so far. The 3gb download opens with a 3D interface, an original theme song, and a “daily login” unlock system. Basically, each day you load it up a sample of another song is unlocked for non-PlayStation Plus subscribers. If you are a subscriber the entire concert is available immediately and on the final day you’ll unlock a PlayStation 4 Home Screen theme. A small gift for your patience.
The Moonlit Melodies album was released in February but the live performance on this app comes from a concert held in Osaka on June 2nd that was produced by the game’s composer, Yoko Shimomura. I was expecting the songs to be accompanied by a simple slideshow of screenshots but you actually get direct video from the concert. It’s a well edited, multi-angle production with subtle lighting and projection effects that runs for about 40 minutes. Another bonus is an exclusive interview with Shimomura where she talks about choosing the venue, her love of the piano, the importance of concert settings, and more. Bonus bonus, it has English subtitles!
But once again, the whole thing will become inaccessible on March 1st, 2018, presumably leading up to a longer Blu-ray release of the full performance. Since it’s such an ethereal experience — Japan only, digital only, and soon to be shut down — I thought I’d record a video to show it off to those that don’t have the time or means to access it. You can check it out above or on OSV’s rejuvenated YouTube channel.
FYI: If you want to try it out for yourself you’ll first need a Japanese PlayStation Network account. Once you’ve got that set up you can download the app via this link. I can confirm, if you subscribe to PlayStation Plus on your main account and load up the app you’ll have instant access to the full concert and interview video. There’s no need to sign up for PS+ in Japanese. Convenient!
Ever fancy taking to the stage at an orchestral game music concert to play your own instrument alongside the performers? That’s almost exactly the plan for the Brass Band Disney tour that will be performing across Japan between January and March of 2018.
At each of the ten scheduled shows the Siena Wind Orchestra, who you may know from their BRA★BRA Final Fantasy series, will play a selection of songs from Disney’s animated films, Star Wars, and Pirates of the Caribbean. For the finale, everyone in attendance is welcomed to join the stage or even play from the aisles for one of the most raucous performances these concert halls have ever held.
The communal composition isn’t a Disney standard like the “Mickey Mouse Club March” though, it’s the main theme from one of their most popular new properties, the mobile game Disney Tsum Tsum. Those planning to perform can grab the sheet music to practice and listen to a few baseball “cheer song” renditions of the theme from Disney’s site. Don’t worry if you can’t play an instrument, clapping and whistling are encouraged as well.
It’s a wild (and trusting) concept, having fans play alongside the orchestra, and I hope at least a glimpse of it gets out to YouTube once the tour starts. In the meantime, what game music do you think would benefit from a communal performance, umm, if any? Let us know in the comments.
Of Nintendo’s longest running franchises Kirby is one of the youngest, playing little sibling to the likes of Mario, Zelda, and Metroid who all recently celebrated thirty years. Nevertheless, Nintendo is giving the pink puff an impressive 25th anniversary package in three colorful varieties on CD, DVD, and Blu-ray. All three versions of Kirby 25th Anniversary Orchestra Concert will be released in Japan on December 20th. Here’s the rundown on what’s included.
The 2-disc CD album features a recording of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra performing ‘The Kirby 25th Anniversary Concert” from July on Disc 1. Kirby Memorial Arrange makes up the second disc and contains live performances, vocal tracks, and other arrangements of Kirby themes that weren’t featured in the concert. Also included with the colorful packaging is a Kirby 25th anniversary pin badge with the whole thing on sale for about $30.
Stepping things up is the CD+DVD bundle that includes the 2-disc album and pin badge as well as a video recording of ‘The Kirby 25th Anniversary Concert” performance. There’s also some interview footage with long-time Kirby developers to reminisce on the series anniversary. This $70 bundle comes with an interchangeable case with three designs and a classy cover box to store the CD and DVD in.
Finally, there’s the $80 CD+Blu-ray edition that includes all the same footage from the DVD in higher quality, edited with direct feed footage of the gameplay that was projected behind the orchestra during the performance. The 2-disc album, pin badge, and classy cover box are all included with a unique design on the Blu-ray disc. It’s not a massive bonus but the big deal about the Blu-ray edition is that it will only be available to order online between November 8th and the 24th. After that it’ll be paying exorbitant prices to resellers.
If the price is too steep but you love the look of this 25th anniversary artwork, check out the official anniversary site. It’s in Japanese but you don’t need to read the language to bask in the adorable artwork and the mountain of character goods piling up in Japan. If you need a little musical accompaniment while browsing, check out the recently released tribute album Kirby25: A Chiptuned Retrospective.
Any Kirby fans planning on picking up the CD, DVD or Blu-ray? How about one of those LED humidifiers?
Atlus has detailed the “Launch Edition” of Etrian Odyssey V: Beyond the Myth and naturally, there’s a music CD among the goodies. Coming this Fall to the Nintendo 3DS, the $40 package will include a decorative outer box that holds a 24-page art book and a 6-track music CD.
Composed by series mainstay Yuzo Koshiro, the disc includes six arranged tracks from the new game. The album’s VGMdb page reveals the tracks as town, dungeon, and battle music from the upcoming game. Labeled as arrangements however, it’s possible these variations could be exclusive to the North American Launch Edition disc and not included on the current OST release.
You can check out the official site to find out more about the game or hop over to Amazon to pre-order a Launch Edition copy for yourself.
There was a whole lot to take in during Super Mario Odyssey’s spotlight on Nintendo’s E3 stream but what really grabbed me was that song. The vocal theme, presumably sung by Mario’s old flame, Pauline, amps up the action with Swing style and some outstanding lyrics. I haven’t been as energized or surprised by Mario music since the very first Super Mario Galaxy trailers.
Even better, the version that accompanies Odyssey’s trailer turned out to be a shortened edit which Nintendo played in full at the end of their Treehouse stream this week. YouTube user Trogdorbad was kind enough to clean it up and even transcribed the lyrics with the help of commenters so we can all sing along to lines like “put a comb through that ‘stache, now you’ve got panache!”
Take a listen above and if you haven’t already, check out Nintendo’s official trailer and showfloor demo of Super Mario Odyssey. It’s out on the Nintendo Switch on October 27th.
Revealed today during Nintendo’s E3 Treehouse stream was Metroid: Samus Returns. It’s a 3DS remake of the Game Boy title Metroid II: Return of Samus (see what they did there with the title?) with some fairly major gameplay tweaks. Also revealed was the game’s September 15th release date and the announcement of a special edition package that includes the “Samus Archives Sound Selection” CD.
The album title reminds me of collections like the Nintendo Sound History series or the more recent 30th anniversary albums for Mario and Zelda. Details are scarce at the moment but the album will highlight music across the Metroid series. Check out the newly revealed Metroid: Samus Returns trailer above and get ready to pre-order from your retailer of choice!
Leading up to the June 27th launch of Valkyria Revolution, Sega has published a video featuring the game’s music by composer Yasunori Mitsuda. Well known for his work on Square franchises going all the way back to Chrono Trigger, Mitsuda is still taking on new challenges today.
In the video he talks a bit about his “new and interesting experiment” with dynamic music that rises and falls based on the combat. Check out the video below to see and hear the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and singer Sarah Àlainn during a recording session and a bit more from Mitsuda. If you like the music you can get the 12-song soundtrack CD in the Vanargand Edition of the game, coming to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One at the end of the month.
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